CHAPTER XXI 



THE FIELDS 



While it is the primary object of this book 

 to discuss the lay-out of buildings and their 

 accessories, it would be incomplete if some- 

 thing were not said of the general plan of the 

 fields themselves. 



FENCES 



Some ten years since, someone estimated that 

 for every dollar's worth of live stock kept in 

 New York another dollar was expended in fences 

 to restrain it. It is probable that this esti- 

 mate is below rather than above the facts. Be 

 this as it may, the first cost of fences and their 

 maintenance is a serious draft on the resources 

 of the farmer. 



In the pioneer days, when even the best of 

 fencing material was so abundant that it was 

 burned to clear the land, there was great temp- 

 tation to split the tender logs into great rails 

 and construct fences with them. Each winter 

 a few acres of land were cleared and each year's 

 clearing was surrounded by a great ten -rail fence, 



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